Have been with RBC my whole life for my day to day banking. Have had Scotiabank for mortgage and car loan. Also have a Tangerine (previously ING) account. Currently looking to put some money in a GIC and the Tangerine rates are much better than RBC so am thinking about putting it with Tangerine.
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The Following User Says Thank You to shane_c For This Useful Post:
My advice is to have 2, and approach every issue/product asking for quotes so that they are aware you are shopping. You will always get better service under competition.
The Following User Says Thank You to Enoch Root For This Useful Post:
I'm with Tangerine and EQ Bank. Outside of credit cards, I'm not a big fan of brick and mortar banks...that said, I really have no use for physically visiting a bank either. Everything is online for me and no fees/minimum balances.
I was going to answer but my old post from 8 years ago is as relevant as ever.
Spoiler!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger
Honestly most FIs in Canada are pretty similar, especially the big 5 banks.
With all of them (TD, Scotia, CIBC, BMO, RBC) you'll find they have an incredible amount of cross-selling and consolidation abilities. What do I mean? They can handle your mortgage, credit card, insurance, investing etc. They also have the widest reach. You'll find a branch or ATM on pretty much every corner in Canada. You'll also pay the highest fees out of all your options, and not just for monthly service charges for your account but also transfer out fees of registered products, NSF fees etc.
Major advantages to the big 5 are, well they're big. Lots of modern technology, easy to consolidate your business. Major disadvantages would be you're small fish to them (most likely) and you're just one of millions of customers to them. That and they tend to be more expensive.
There are also two main alternatives. Virtual banks (ING, PC and a few others) and Credit Unions/ATB.
Virtual banks tend to be cheaper than the big banks for your monthly banking and generally tend to offer better GIC rates. This is because they have no overhead. Your major disadvantage is customer service. You will never, ever see anyone face to face. If your debit card breaks there is no branch, you have to call them. They are more meant for self sufficient people who don't like to be bothered with the added costs just so that they can get that face to face experience.
Lastly Credit Unions and ATB. Alberta Treasury Branch isn't a CU, they're obviously a treasury but I'll include them here. Generally smaller (located only in AB or sometimes just a smaller region/city), generally rely more on building relationships with customers. They can pretty much offer all of your banking needs the same as the big 5 but they often aren't quite at the forefront of innovation. Some even do actual underwriting, as opposed to having their computer tell them if you are approved for a loan or not.
Credit Unions require you to apply to join though. They do a simple credit check and while that isn't an issue for most people if you've got terrible credit they may deny you. Sometimes though you get patronage from them, I've heard some CUs in BC don't do this anymore though. Essentially you're a shareholder when you join a CU and they pay a portion of their profits to shareholders.
As previously mentioned First Calgary (obviously in Calgary) offers completely free banking with no strings attached. This is not very common as monthly charges are a huge source of revenue for FIs.
As to who you should choose it is really up to you. IMO you'll find pretty much the exact same level and types of services across all 5 big banks. The virtual banks are a matter of taste and self sufficiency. CUs, although they usually offer all relevant services that a big bank does, are sometimes a little too mom and pop for some people. Although to others that smaller community owned CU is better than the evil big 5. Depends on your perspective.
One other thing to consider is your needs. Do you just want a chequing account? Do you want to consolidate all of your loans/mortgages/investments to the same FI? How much and what do you use your account for?
All things to consider. Hope that helps.
The Following User Says Thank You to Cecil Terwilliger For This Useful Post:
Been with Scotia Bank all my life and First Calgary for some business
First Calgary has been great to deal with mortgage and car loans
Scotia just never wanted to move anything over so just juggle between the two
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The Following User Says Thank You to Nammer403 For This Useful Post:
No fees, offer 4% interest on a personal account with direct deposit. Also have the really cool Notice savings accounts 10 day (4%) and 30 day (4.25%).
Also, their EQ Card is free at any ATM in the country, says they reimburse any fees you are charged. It operates as a credit card of sorts (MasterCard), you pre-load it from your bank account. This could be a drawback as not everyone accepts MC.
Overall seems to be so much better than the big 5 who offer nothing but their 'amazing service' these days.
Currently with Tangerine but their savings accounts pay essentially nothing. Not really interested in short term promos.
Seems like it may be too good to be true...
The Following User Says Thank You to 8sPOT For This Useful Post:
I moved most things to WealthSimple, but I realize that keeping a big bank account is still a necessity for some things.
Does any big bank have a zero fee chequing account that is reasonable to largely keep empty? BMO makes me pay something like $6 a month for the pleasure.
I moved most things to WealthSimple, but I realize that keeping a big bank account is still a necessity for some things.
Does any big bank have a zero fee chequing account that is reasonable to largely keep empty? BMO makes me pay something like $6 a month for the pleasure.
When I was with the bank, we had a low fee account and a "savings" account that was free that gave you 2 transactions.
Most banks you will end up paying fees, unless you keep a certain balance in the account. That amount keeps going up. Last time I looked it was $5000; you get the account for free.
It is also important to note that balance has to be the closing balance daily, you can't go to 4999.99, you will get charged the full fee for that.
Location: Close enough to make a beer run during a TV timeout
Exp:
I don't know if I'm grandfathered in somehow, but I have something called a "Gain Plan" with Scotia that is $0 per month and I think $1 per transaction. I reverted back to it when I moved my banking away from them.
The Following User Says Thank You to ken0042 For This Useful Post:
I moved most things to WealthSimple, but I realize that keeping a big bank account is still a necessity for some things.
Does any big bank have a zero fee chequing account that is reasonable to largely keep empty? BMO makes me pay something like $6 a month for the pleasure.
Cash account at WS is fine for most everything. They give you a Mastercard debit card.
Barring that, open a LOC. No fees but you get access to a teller. Just take out $20 every year and deposit it back in and pay the 1 cent in interest.
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No fees, offer 4% interest on a personal account with direct deposit. Also have the really cool Notice savings accounts 10 day (4%) and 30 day (4.25%).
Also, their EQ Card is free at any ATM in the country, says they reimburse any fees you are charged. It operates as a credit card of sorts (MasterCard), you pre-load it from your bank account. This could be a drawback as not everyone accepts MC.
Overall seems to be so much better than the big 5 who offer nothing but their 'amazing service' these days.
Currently with Tangerine but their savings accounts pay essentially nothing. Not really interested in short term promos.
Seems like it may be too good to be true...
I've had a EQ Bank account for years now. They've been good but I've used it in a very limited way to get US cash for online transactions only. Their fees for US FX are super low compared to others and no weird Norbert's Gambit mess.
The cash card (not bank card) and the whole 2FA not being through an authenticator or their own banking app (txt only) are the two things that really kept me from fully switching. There are also minimums deposits you need to keep that high interest rate.
The Following User Says Thank You to FlameOn For This Useful Post:
I'm finding that not to be the case. Things like money orders or using your debit or travelling anywhere a little spicy leaves you in need of another account.
I think for the Greener Homes Loan I needed to use my BMO account as well.
I love my WS cash account, but yeah you still need a proper chequing account for certain things. At least for now, they add more and more to the WS account often
The Following User Says Thank You to btimbit For This Useful Post:
All of the Big 5s have Premium chequing account where if you keep a $6000 balance at all times then everything is free - bank drafts, transfers, transactions , even waiving annual fees for the black credit cards.
I do recommend also getting a free chequing account from one of those digital banks like Tangerine or Simplii for flexibilities.
All of the Big 5s have Premium chequing account where if you keep a $6000 balance at all times then everything is free - bank drafts, transfers, transactions , even waiving annual fees for the black credit cards.
I do recommend also getting a free chequing account from one of those digital banks like Tangerine or Simplii for flexibilities.
This past year you get get 4% interest or more on that money whereas you get 0 in the checking account so that account cost $240 per year. It might drop to $180 for next year.
^Exactly, $20/month in forfeited interest is very far from free. I'm looking for an account I can leave $0 in, and don't care if I get dinged hard on fees for doing anything with it, as long as ATM withdrawals, money orders, and transfers to and from WealthSimple are possible.
^Exactly, $20/month in forfeited interest is very far from free. I'm looking for an account I can leave $0 in, and don't care if I get dinged hard on fees for doing anything with it, as long as ATM withdrawals, money orders, and transfers to and from WealthSimple are possible.
I’ve had pcfinancial forever. Or whatever it’s called now. Pretty sure it’s zero fee.
The Following User Says Thank You to fotze2 For This Useful Post:
Doesn’t anyone own shares of Canadian banks anymore? You need to support them so your retirement account can flourish. Stop looking for free banking at all costs. There’s something to be said about having a solid banking sector to rely upon.
The Following User Says Thank You to Brupal For This Useful Post:
I’ve had pcfinancial forever. Or whatever it’s called now. Pretty sure it’s zero fee.
Simplii financial (operated by CIBC) is as zero fee as I’ve found. They used to be PC Financial, were bought out by CIBC and rebranded. Hate the color scheme, but can’t complain about the product. PC Financial has since restarted a new service
They do have referral links but I’m not recommending them for the referral
